Including protein in the breakfast brings several benefits to people suffering from diabetes. In fact, the food intake during morning has been found to have a major impact on the health status of diabetic persons.
Giving due attention to breakfast can help control blood sugar levels to a large extent. Inevitably, there is a long interval between supper and breakfast as people sleep at night. So the breakfast should be taken as early as possible.
Protein-rich items in the breakfast increases metabolism and helps keep away the hungry feeling during the period between meals. Examples of eatables having high protein content include pulses, egg, meat, nuts, milk and milk products.
However, diabetic patients should avoid salt and fatty items as they increase the risk of a heart attack. In case ‘puttu’ (steamed rice cake), pulses and ‘papadam’ (a fried food) are offered for breakfast, remove the papadam.
When tubers like elephant foot yam (chena) or common yam (kachil) are prepared for breakfast, include fish or pulses that have good amounts of protein. However, the intake of such foods should be in limited quantity.
Another point to remember is never combine potato with ‘appam’ or chappatis as the amount of carbohydrate would be high, leading to shooting up of blood sugar level.
Other items to be totally avoided are foods using maida (refined flour) and fried snacks. ‘Poorie’, a popular fried dish, should not be touched. Similarly, replace coconut chutney with tomato chutney or ‘sambar’ to accompany ‘dosa’ and ‘idli’. Another food to be kept away is cornflakes as it is known to increase blood sugar level.
However, diabetes patients can consume foods like oats, ‘musli’ (a herb) and quinoa as ‘kurukku’ (mashed form) or along with other nutrient-rich products like milk, fruits, flax seeds and nuts.
